Marques Brownlee

Marques Keith Brownlee[3][4] (/mɑːrˈkɛz ˈkiːθ ˈbraʊnliː/ mar-KEZ KEITH BROWN-lee; born December 3, 1993), also known professionally as MKBHD, is an American YouTuber and professional ultimate frisbee player, best known for his technology-focused videos as well as his podcast, Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast.[5] The name of his YouTube channel is a concatenation of MKB (Brownlee's initials) and HD (for high-definition).[6] As of November 2020, he has over 13.1 million subscribers and over 2.27 billion total video views. In August 2013, Vic Gundotra, former Senior Vice President, Social for Google,[7][8] called Brownlee "the best technology reviewer on the planet right now".[6][9]

Marques Brownlee
Personal information
BornMarques Keith Brownlee
(1993-12-03) December 3, 1993[1][2]
Maplewood, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationBS in Business and Information Technology from Stevens Institute of Technology
OccupationYouTuber, tech blogger, podcaster
Websitemkbhd.com
YouTube information
Also known asMKBHD
Channel
Years active2008–present
Genre
Subscribers13.6 million
Total views2.39 billion
100,000 subscribers 2012
1,000,000 subscribers 2014
10,000,000 subscribers 2019
Updated: February 3, 2021

Career

Brownlee joined YouTube on March 21, 2008.[10] He first started uploading technology videos in January 2009, while still in high school, about new products or reviews of products he already owned.[11][12] He produced his first videos through screencasting.[12][13] His first several hundred videos were primarily hardware tutorials and freeware.[6] As of December 2019, his channel has gained over 10 million subscribers,[10] making MKBHD one of the most subscribed-to technology-focused YouTube channels, according to Social Blade.[14][15] Brownlee uploaded his 1000th video on March 29, 2018.[16]

Brownlee's reviews have been promoted by other review sites as well. Engadget promoted the site in January 2012 when they featured his tour of the then-new cloud storage service called Insync.[17] In November 2013, one of Brownlee's most viral videos was posted based on the LG G Flex, where he performed various scratch tests to portray the self-healing ability of the device.[18][19] The video reached one million views on the first day. As of December 2019, the video has almost 8 million views.[20] In December 2013, Brownlee did an interview with Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside.[21][22] In May 2014, Brownlee did the first over-the-air interview with Evan Blass.[23]

Brownlee's video review and scratch test of a rumored 4.7-inch sapphire display component for the iPhone 6, uploaded July 7, 2014,[24] gained immediate popularity, being featured on sites such as The Verge, Forbes, HuffPost, CNET, and Time Magazine. The video appeared on NBC News, and in newspapers across the world. As of November 2020, the video has gained over 9.1 million views on YouTube and has had over 62,000 ratings.[24] Brownlee also has a similar video regarding a dummy model of the iPhone 6, uploaded a couple of months earlier, which (as of December 2019) has since gained over 6.58 million views on YouTube.[25]

In December 2015, Brownlee interviewed professional NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant, titled Talking Tech with Kobe Bryant!, in which he talks about tech interests of Kobe and the most recent Kobe-designed Nike shoes, the Kobe 11.[26][27]

During one of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary debates that was cosponsored by YouTube, Brownlee asked the candidates, by video, whether tech companies and the government can find a middle ground over encryption while considering rights to privacy and national security.[28]

In October 2016, he interviewed Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi during the release of their latest MacBook Pro 2016.[29] The latter was, again, invited to Brownlee's channel after WWDC 2020 in June.[30]

In March 2018, he interviewed Neil deGrasse Tyson.[31] In April 2018, Brownlee won Shorty Awards Creator of the Decade.[32] In June 2018, Brownlee was a guest on Hot Ones.[33] In August 2018, he interviewed Tesla CEO Elon Musk[34] and with assistance of TLD (Jonathan Morrison) filmed Tesla Factory Tour with Elon Musk![35] In December 2018, Brownlee was featured in YouTube Rewind, later releasing a video on his complaints about the series.[36]

In February 2019, he interviewed Bill Gates.[37] In October 2019, he interviewed Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella before Microsoft's Surface announcement, in addition to actor Will Smith.[38][39]

Marques Brownlee reached 10 million subscribers on December 18, 2019.[40]

He interviewed Bill Gates again in February 2020.[41] In September 2020, he interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, discussing holograms and the future of virtual reality.[42] In December 2020, he interviewed Barack Obama, discussing use of technology and social media in government.[43] In December 2020, he was honored in the Forbes 30 Under 30 listing in its social media category.[44]

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Main article: Waveform (podcast)

Brownlee is the host of a Tech Podcast with co-host Andrew Manganelli, who is a producer for the MKBHD YouTube channel. The podcast is called the Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast and is sometimes referred to as Waveform and WVFRM. The podcast is focused on consumer electronics and surrounding topics. The first episode was aired on Apple podcasts and Spotify on July 31, 2019. Brownlee announced the podcast on his YouTube channel on August 13, 2019, in the video titled "Introducing Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast!". There have been multiple high-profile guests on the podcast, including iJustine, Mark Zuckerburg, Craig Federighi, and Carl Pei.

Smartphone Awards

In December 2014, Brownlee started his Smartphone Awards series, where he picks the best phones in certain categories from the past year. In 2017, Brownlee started to create physical awards that were featured in the video, most of which were requested and sent to the companies whose phones won them. The Smartphone Awards are usually posted towards the middle of December, after all of the phones of the year have been released and tested.

MKBHD Smartphone Awards
Year Best Big Smartphone Best Compact Smartphone Best Camera Best Budget Smartphone Best Battery Life Best Design Most Improved Bust of the Year Phone of the Year
(MVP/Best Overall)		 Ref.
2014 Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Sony Xperia Z3 Compact Samsung Galaxy Note 4 & Apple iPhone 6 Plus OnePlus One N/A Sharp Aquos Crystal † BlackBerry Passport Amazon Fire Phone HTC One M8 [45]
2015 Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Apple iPhone 6s Samsung Galaxy Note 5 OnePlus X Motorola Droid Maxx 2 Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ BlackBerry Priv HTC One A9 Nexus 6P [46]
2016 Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Apple iPhone 7 Google Pixel & Pixel XL OnePlus 3T Motorola Moto Z Play Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge HTC 10 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 & Google Project Ara Google Pixel XL [47]
2017 Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Apple iPhone 8 Google Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL OnePlus 5T Razer Phone Essential Phone HTC U11 HTC U Ultra Samsung Galaxy Note 8 [48]
2018 Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Apple iPhone XS Google Pixel 3 & Pixel 3 XL Xiaomi Pocophone F1 Huawei Mate 20 Pro Oppo Find X Razer Phone 2 Red Hydrogen One OnePlus 6T [49]
2019 Asus ROG Phone II Samsung Galaxy S10e Apple iPhone 11 Pro & iPhone 11 Pro Max Redmi K20 Pro Asus ROG Phone II Samsung Galaxy Fold Asus ROG Phone II Google Pixel 4 OnePlus 7 Pro [50]
2020 Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra Apple iPhone 12 Mini Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Google Pixel 4a Asus ROG Phone 3 Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE [51]

† This category was called "Craziest Design" in 2014

Personal life

Brownlee grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey. He attended Columbia High School and studied at the Howe School at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he majored in business and information technology.[6][9] Brownlee graduated from college in May 2015 and became a full-time YouTuber. His videos were produced at his apartment until he moved out in 2016, and he now works out of a studio in Kearny, New Jersey, using RED video equipment.[52] He owned a Tesla Model S P100D, which he occasionally featured in his channel until he recently replaced it in 2020 with the Performance (Raven) version of the same vehicle.[53]

American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL)

Brownlee is a professional ultimate frisbee player for the New York Empire (AUDL), who were the 2019 AUDL champions.[54] Brownlee previously played for the Philadelphia Phoenix (2017) and Garden State Ultimate (2015–2017). Other previous team engagements include the now-defunct New Jersey Hammerheads, a team belonging to the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), and the New York Rumble, which was in the now-defunct league Major League Ultimate.

References
  1. Brownlee, Marques (December 3, 2011). MKBHD Update 7.0. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  2. Brownlee, Marques (March 10, 2020). The Truth About the Escobar Folding Phone!. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  3. Brownlee, Marques. 10,000,000!. YouTube. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  4. Marques Brownlee [@MKBHD] (December 18, 2019). "More incredibly, though, we finally actually did it. 10,000,000 of you subscribed to the channel. So there it is. It's my Dad's middle name too. And his Dad's. We're all MKBs, I'm just the first HD one" (Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2019 – via Twitter.
  5. "League Players". AUDL. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  6. "New MKBHD Video is live! I spend a lot of time in thought for this one – I…". google.com.
  7. Raymond, Scott (August 24, 2011). "Google+ real name clampdown ignores own grace period". ZDNet. Vic Gundotra is the Senior Vice-President of Social Business at Google.
  8. "Management team". Google.
  9. Michael Fisher (October 25, 2013). "Pocketnow VIP, episode 3: meet Marques Brownlee from MKBHD! – Pocketnow". Pocketnow.
  10. "Marques Brownlee: About". YouTube.
  11. "Stevens Student's First Million: Tech Reviewer's YouTube Following Reaches Major Milestone". Stevens Institute of Technology. February 13, 2014.
  12. "The Tato Show: After Hours – Episode 2". droidlife. We will also have a very special guest, Mr. Marques Brownlee who runs the YouTube channel MKBHD
  13. Wei, Will (November 21, 2014). "How A 20-Year-Old College Student Became 'The Best Technology Reviewer On The Planet'". Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  14. https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/category/tech/mostsubscribed
  15. "Marques Brownlee Monthly YouTube Statistics". Social Blade. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  16. Brownlee, Marques (March 29, 2018). I've Made 1000 Videos?! Ask MKBHD V26!. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  17. Cooper, Daniel. "Insync: Wave 'Bye, Bye, Bye' to Dropbox". Engadget.
  18. Souppouris, Aaron (November 20, 2013). "Watch LG's new flexible phone heal itself after a knife scratch". Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  19. "MKBHD Goes Hands-on With LG G Flex Self Healing Back, Even Takes a Knife to it". droidlife.
  20. Brownlee, Marques (November 18, 2013). LG G Flex Self Healing Demo.
  21. Petrovan, Bogdan (December 6, 2013). "Motorola CEO talks about Project Ara, wearable devices, and Moto X". Android Authority.
  22. Buckley (December 7, 2013). "Motorola's modular phone prototype is almost ready, final product might be sold on Moto Maker".
  23. Evan Blass [@evleaks] (May 23, 2014). "First and only @evleaks podcast: fireside chat with @MKBHD - bit.ly/S0gGYl" (Tweet). Retrieved September 19, 2014 – via Twitter.
  24. Brownlee, Marques (July 7, 2014). iPhone 6 Sapphire Crystal Display!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  25. Brownlee, Marques (May 25, 2014). The iPhone 6 Model!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  26. Smith, Dave (December 15, 2015). "Kobe Bryant discusses how technology has changed over his 20 years in the NBA". Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  27. Brownlee, Marques (December 14, 2015). Talking Tech with Kobe Bryant!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  28. "CHS Grad Marques Brownlee Asks Question at Democratic Debate". The Village Green. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  29. Brownlee, Marques (October 27, 2016). Macbook Pro chat with Apple's Craig Federighi!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  30. Brownlee, Marques (June 26, 2020). Apple responds to your comments!. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  31. Talking Tech with Neil deGrasse Tyson!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  32. "YouTuber Marques Brownlee Talks Ten Years of Tech". NPR.org. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  33. Marques Brownlee Ranks Hot Sauce Labels While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones, retrieved October 11, 2019
  34. Talking Tech with Elon Musk!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  35. Tesla Factory Tour with Elon Musk!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  36. Brownlee, Marques (December 12, 2018). "The Problem with YouTube Rewind!". YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  37. Talking Tech & Saving the World with Bill Gates!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  38. Talking Tech & Meme Review with Will Smith!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  39. Talking Tech with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  40. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (August 9, 2019). "@LinusTech We gotta make this official, right? Set some stakes? First to 10M wins. The other has to wear the winner's merch in a video and do an entire in-video ad for the other's channel 😎" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  41. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (February 14, 2020). "NEW VIDEO - Talking Tech and 2020 with Bill Gates! t.co/SUIHXyPFiw - RT! t.co/k9fu6MnJm2" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  42. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (September 16, 2020). "NEW VIDEO - Talking Tech and Holograms with Mark Zuckerberg! t.co/MqebhCpPkO t.co/I5XbA9tRQY" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  43. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (December 16, 2020). "NEW VIDEO - Some Quick Advice from Barack Obama! t.co/8CX2n4oRCt t.co/8s5bza1i81" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  44. "Forbes 30 Under 30 2021: Social Media". Forbes. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  45. Brownlee, Marques (December 7, 2014). Smartphone Awards: 2014!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  46. Brownlee, Marques (December 18, 2015). Smartphone Awards: 2015!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  47. Brownlee, Marques (December 22, 2016). Smartphone Awards 2016!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  48. Brownlee, Marques (December 19, 2017). Smartphone Awards 2017!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  49. Brownlee, Marques (December 18, 2018). Smartphone Awards 2018!. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  50. Brownlee, Marques (December 24, 2019). Smartphone Awards 2019!. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  51. Brownlee, Marques (December 23, 2020). Smartphone Awards 2020!. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  52. Linus Tech Tips (May 9, 2017). EXPOSING MKBHD'S FAKE VIDEOS (Studio Tour). Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  53. How Teslas Upgrade Over Time!, retrieved May 23, 2020
  54. AUDL [@theAUDL] (August 11, 2019). "🏆 @empireultimate t.co/HUUSWSmwxM" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
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